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Phaethon360 writes "From Bioshock and Modern Warfare 2 to even Team Fortress 2, RPG elements are creeping into game genres that we never imagined they would. This change for the most part has managed to subtly improve upon genres that needed new life, but there's a cost that hasn't been tallied by the majority of game developers. 'The simple act of removing mod tools, along with the much discussed dedicated server issue, has made [MW2] a bit of a joke among competitive players. Gone are the days of "promod," and the only option you have is to play it their way. If Infinity Ward are so insistent on improving the variety of our experiences, they don’t have to do it at the expense of the experience that many of us already love. It really is that simple. If they don’t want to provide a good "back to basics experience," they could at least continue to provide the tools that allow us to do that for ourselves.'"

RPG elements are creeping into game genres that we never imagined they would

No they're not. Games like Deus Ex, like System Shock and System Shock 2 had RPG elements - games that were truly a clever blend of genres that worked perfectly. Shooting action along with a bit of thought too.

The dumbing down started with consoles and Deus Ex 2. It was completed in BioShock. Awesome graphics, great atmosphere, an interesting story, but hardly any RPG elements to speak of. Any trace of RPG elements in (non-RPG) games these days are so watered down that they just dilute the fun of the shooter, rather than adding any element of challenge of their own.

XNA? Microsoft will give you a pretty complete 360 dev environment for free, and let you write games (or other apps) and run them on your console. Sure you have to pay a subscription fee ($100 a year I believe) to be able to distribute what you build, but if you're seriously into homebrew or whatever that doesn't seem like a terrible burden.

There is a modding community, but it's all pretty much evil:- Hackshield bypass which allows the mods and cheating- Mods to the data folder to allow cheating (by way of having maps marked, duping items)- Mods to the data folder to allow cosmetic cheating (having "you" have equipment that requires effort, money or time to earn/purchase)- Mods to the dll files to allow cheating (to see hidden stats like combat power, to hack the archery range or accuracy)- Mods to the dll files to fix bugs in the game client (font rendering subsystem)- Mods to break the game through packet editing

Here's a point to prove the complaint of "allowing mods prevents earning profit from the game"

One of the cheats that virtually everyone had was the "summon" mod, which costs 50 cents to buy from the game store, but the mod made it so any item in your inventory (stackable items like meat, salt, strawberries) could be used to trigger it, thus depriving Nexon of money at 50 cents a pop. Some players would use this mod excessively to teleport their friends around or to field bosses. This "mod" was finally fixed in the last patch update.

But the root of the mods is the off-the-shelf software being used to "prevent" modding/cheating. Once someone bypasses hackshield all the mods come back into full force. Since otherwise it requires skill to edit the game binaries or data pack files. Hackshield doesn't do squat about edits to the binaries.